Teach Your Children...About Sex

This has turned into the Sean Sawyer hour. Once again I was speaking to the legend and the topic of sex education for young children came up.

I’ve always believed in the theory of keeping it real and honest with our kids.

It all starts with how you address the kids at a young age. I hate “baby talk.” I’ve never addressed my nieces and nephews in a way that I speak to them in a condescending way. I would have normal, full conversations with my niece when she was only six months old and speak to her in a normal tone of voice. Granted the talks were one-sided because she couldn’t respond to me with the no talking thing and she would just sit in place and stare at me smiling. I think deep down she saw me just talking to her as an equal and now that she’s 12, we have full conversations like adults. I treated my nephews the same way and they’re 15 and 10.

Anyway, back to the sex talk, when my young family members ask me questions, I keep it real with them. I tell them to use condoms, use protection, take medicine and be careful who they get involved with. I tell them to focus on school and to have good friends. When I tell them “be careful,” they know exactly what I’m talking about.

These kids know about sex. I hate when people try to keep that whole “our kids are innocent” stuff. Whether its through watching television, talking to friends and even experimenting on their own, they know what a penis and vagina is and how they function. My niece can break down the whole human body process for you from menstrual cycles and periods and pregnancy right now if you needed her to. My nephews, not so much, but they know how stuff works for the most part.

So now that we know our kids know this stuff, we need to educate them. Sit down with them and tell them the whole truth. Because honestly, they’re going to have sex at some point in their lives, some even at a younger age then you think. They’re not going to stay abstinate.

I would rather be up front with them and give them everything and make sure that they know how to protect themselves. The alternative is for you to have one of them tell you that they have a STD or got someone pregnant or they are pregnant. It happens, so don’t think that you’re immune to it.

I learned my sex stuff from a lot of sources. Family, friends, the occasional TV documentary on cable, especially HBO and Showtime (y’all know what I’m talking about). However, I wish that people were more real with me about it when I was younger. That’s why I appreciated health Ed in eighth grade when our teacher/gym coach broke it down for us. I took that class for a semester, realized what I could and couldn’t do and it was all good.

But to be honest with you, even as a 26-year-old, there are some things that I’m still learning. We are all still learning stuff as we get older. Just make sure that the young kids in your life are learning with you.